Company director claims trial to bribery, money laundering charges

March 30, 2023

Company director claims trial to bribery, money laundering charges

PETALING JAYA: A director of a construction company claimed trial to two counts of bribery and one count of money laundering at the Shah Alam sessions court today.

The court set bail at RM500,000 with one surety and fixed April 19 for mention.© Provided by Free Malaysia Today

G Paismanathan, the director of a construction company that does work for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project, is accused of giving bribes amounting to S$655,766 (RM2.158 million) to a former CEO of MRT Corporation Sdn Bhd.

The bribe is alleged to have been paid through a third party to ensure that Colas Rail System Engineering Sdn Bhd, which was taken over by Pestech Technology Sdn Bhd, would continue to work on the MRT Line Two project, Bernama reported.

The charges are framed under Section 16(b)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694) which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.

If convicted, the accused can be imprisoned for a maximum of 20 years and fined not less than five times the value of the bribes or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

DISYORKAN UNTUK ANDA :

Paismanathan, 53, is alleged to have committed the offence on Dec 28, 2017 and Jan 9, 2018 at Amber Hill, Taman Melawati, Gombak.

He was also charged with transferring RM4.13 million, which are proceeds from illegal activities from an account belonging to Colas Rail System Engineering Sdn Bhd, to an account belonging to Siaz Holding Bhd.

He was charged with committing the offence between Nov 16 and Dec 27, 2017, at the Maybank branch in Taman Subang Perdana, Petaling Jaya under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorist Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Act 613) which can be punished under Section 4(1) of the same Act.

If convicted, he can be imprisoned for a maximum of 15 years and can also be fined not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the illegal activity or RM5 million, whichever is higher.

The prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutor Muaz Ahmad Khairuddin and Irna Julieza Maaras, while the accused was represented by counsel Ragunath Kesavan.

Judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud allowed bail at RM500,000 with one surety. The court fixed April 19 for mention.